Exercise and Fitness: Questions & Answers
Vital Health Zone is proud to announce Gina Jackson, who is our resident exercise and fitness expert and who is available to answer all your questions about exercising and fitness. Gina has a private practice and is available for consultation.
Gina answers all your exercise and fitness questions below:
Q: I am around 96 pounds and I would like to gain a good 20lbs. I am currently taking Equate (a protein supplement) which is 380 calories a bottle and eating how I normally eat.
How many calories would it take for me to gain that much weight and how long?
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A: Sounds like it would be a good idea to seek the professional advice of your physician or a registered dietician to construct a nutrition plan that is tailor-made just for you.
There are a number of factors omitted in your inquiry (age, health history, activity levels, food intake) and while supplemental meal replacements may be beneficial in the very short term, overall balance and a long term focus on health while increasing the weight is very important. A registered dietician can work with you to ensure that you are putting on weight in a healthy way and usually without the use of protein supplements.
If you review the guidelines on the food groups section of this site, you will see exactly how much of each type of food you need to eat every day (and exactly what constitutes a serving of each).
You can also try to estimate your ideal weight with the recommended calorie calculator, but it is much more advisable to see a registered dietician who can advise you exactly on the type of healthy diet you should maintain to gain this weight and also what your weight range should be to ensure you are healthy.
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